“Tian Tian, long time no see,” a gentle male voice rang out.
Tian Tian looked at the smiling face of the visitor, then glanced at the neighbors peeking curiously from outside. After a moment’s thought, she invited him into the yard.
Her parents were busy frying New Year’s snacks in the kitchen. Hearing the commotion, they came out. They didn’t recognize Chen Jiahao, but judging by their daughter’s expression, they guessed he wasn’t exactly a close friend.
“Sweetie, this is…” her father asked.
“Dad, Mom, this is my vocational school classmate, Chen Jiahao.”
At the mention of his name, her parents suddenly understood: Oh, it’s that young man whose family supposedly lives in Xin-Ma-Tai!
“You two go ahead with your work. I need to talk with him about something.” Tian Tian nudged her parents back into the kitchen, then poured a bowl of warm water and handed it to Chen Jiahao.
“So, what exactly brings you to my house?”
Seeing her directness, Chen Jiahao thought for a moment, then chuckled ruefully. “I feel like I shouldn’t have come.”
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow. “Did someone say something behind my back?”
Chen Jiahao pressed his temple. “I have a relative who’s connected to your eldest aunt’s sister-in-law. You know about that, right?”
From his expression, Tian Tian already knew what he was going to say.
“Are you here about the arranged blind date? I already turned that down.”
Chen Jiahao quickly waved his hand. “No. I let that go after hearing you refused. But yesterday, when we were delivering New Year’s gifts at our relative’s house, we ran into your eldest aunt and your cousin. Then your cousin told me that you actually have feelings for me but are just shy, and that I should take the initiative…”
He couldn’t continue. Seeing Tian Tian’s open, unbothered expression, he felt foolish.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have come.”
Tian Tian shrugged, unfazed. Tian Xin stirring up trouble was just an attempt to get Chen Jiahao to pester her, so the villagers would gossip about her.
But Tian Xin underestimated Chen Jiahao.
Even though this guy had made her famous county-wide in her previous life, he wasn’t a bad person. If he were, he could have easily dumped his family burdens and found a good match in the county. If he were truly bad, he wouldn’t have compensated her with 10,000 yuan in that past life—though that money was ultimately pocketed by her eldest aunt.
“It’s fine. At least you’ve pulled back before going too far.”
Chen Jiahao smiled. “I think it’s my loss that we’re not fated to be together.”
Tian Tian said confidently, “That’s right.”
Chen Jiahao laughed even more. Then, with a sigh, he asked, “We were classmates and got along pretty well. Can I ask why you refused the blind date?”
Tian Tian shrugged. “I’m just not interested in you that way. Besides, your family situation is too much of a burden.”
Chen Jiahao fell silent. After a long moment, he said, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re too direct?”
Tian Tian: “That’s my strength. And more importantly, I really have no feelings for you. Honestly, weren’t you also considering my family background when you wanted to date me? I have a stable job, I’m an only child, no pressure to support my family…”
Hearing this, Chen Jiahao’s gaze grew complicated.
She was right. His intentions weren’t pure from the start. He wanted someone to share the burden of his family. When his relative introduced Tian Tian—someone with a good job and few family obligations—he couldn’t help but be tempted.
Looking into Tian Tian’s clear, sharp eyes, he felt rather despicable.
Seeing his shift in mindset, Tian Tian said calmly, “There’s no shame in considering practical conditions when looking for a partner. But I truly have no feelings for you. To be honest, Chen Jiahao, you’re a good-looking guy. But your family burdens are too heavy. You’d be better off finding a wealthy woman—you could skip twenty years of struggle.”
In this era, that was a shocking thing to say. Most men didn’t dare pursue women from vastly richer families, afraid of being called a kept man or a gold digger.
And now Tian Tian was directly suggesting he become one. Chen Jiahao was utterly speechless.
Tian Tian continued earnestly: “I’m serious. You work in the investment promotion bureau, right? You must often meet businesspeople looking to invest. Some of them could be suitable marriage partners. Work hard at it, find the right wealthy woman. Treat her sincerely, and just a little help from her would make your family’s life much easier.”
Chen Jiahao remained dumbfounded, his worldview clearly still reeling.
Tian Tian quietly sipped her tea.
She didn’t need to say more. She was sure Chen Jiahao would figure it out soon enough.
Because in her previous life, two years later, Chen Jiahao ran off with a wealthy woman from Hong Kong.
Yes, you heard that right. In the end, Chen Jiahao became a wealthy woman’s kept man. So he might as well get together with her now and save himself two years of detours.
He had met this wealthy woman during his investment promotion work the previous month. Word was she had taken a liking to him immediately, but he had refused. Soon after, he was set up on a blind date with Tian Tian.
In her previous life, Tian Tian had been too eager to get ahead. She didn’t want the distraction of a relationship holding her back from work. So she agreed to date Chen Jiahao. Even though the relationship was barely a relationship, at least it gave her a title, and no one bothered her about setting her up anymore.
Two years passed, and both families started bringing up marriage. Tian Tian refused. Just as she was about to explain things clearly to Chen Jiahao, he suddenly ran off with a wealthy woman from Hong Kong for reasons unknown.
Because he left in a hurry, he didn’t explain much.
To outsiders, it looked like Chen Jiahao would rather choose a thirty-year-old Hong Kong rich woman than marry twenty-year-old Tian Tian.
On top of that, people at the supply and marketing cooperative loved to gossip. And with the high foot traffic there, rumors spread quickly. Eventually, the whole county knew that there was an accountant named Tian Tian at the cooperative whose boyfriend preferred a woman ten years older over marrying her.
Anyway, in her past life, Tian Tian truly felt like a monkey in a zoo. Every day, people came to the cooperative to gawk at her, asking if she was ugly or had some major flaw. Why else would a guy prefer a woman ten years his senior over someone his own age?
Thinking about it now, Tian Tian felt she had been completely wronged back then.
That kind of life made her restless and irritable. On top of that, she realized there was no chance for a promotion. In the end, she took unpaid leave and headed to Shenzhen to find work.
As for the 10,000 yuan, it was compensation Chen Jiahao sent after hearing that her reputation had suffered because of him. Unfortunately, he entrusted the money to someone who passed it to his relative, who then passed it to Tian Tian’s eldest aunt’s sister-in-law, and finally, the eldest aunt pocketed it. It never reached Tian Tian.
Tian Tian only found out about that 10,000 yuan in 1992 when she ran into Chen Jiahao again. By then, she had a stable job in Shenzhen. During a holiday visit home, she confronted her eldest aunt’s family, but she never got the money back because her aunt just played dirty.
These messy, painful things—Tian Tian wouldn’t have to go through them again in this life.
“If there’s nothing else, you should head back. Take the gifts you brought with you. As for what I just said, make your own judgment—I’m not taking responsibility.”
Chen Jiahao still looked dazed. But he knew Tian Tian’s advice made sense. Thinking back to the Hong Kong woman from last month who had told him to come with her, his expression grew serious.
Just then, Tian Xin’s somewhat theatrical voice rang out from outside the yard.
“Oh, Tian Tian! So you’re meeting your boyfriend here!”
Tian Tian rolled her eyes. How did this woman get let out of the house? She should have been locked away forever.
“Do you want me to write to your one, two, three, four… thirteen backup boyfriends again?”
“What? So it was you messing with me!”
Tian Tian crossed her arms and looked down at her disdainfully. “Yes, it was me. Didn’t you already guess? Every little move you make, I’ll hit back with a bigger one. I have no weaknesses. You, on the other hand, are full of holes.”
Chen Jiahao also spoke up sternly:
“Comrade Tian Xin, just because you’re no good doesn’t mean the rest of the world is as rotten as you. I came today to deliver New Year’s gifts to a friend. If you don’t know the facts, don’t run your mouth. If you ruin your cousin’s and my reputation, don’t blame me for being rude. The county just shipped off a batch of people yesterday. You wouldn’t want to end up like them, would you?”
Tian Xin naturally understood what Chen Jiahao meant. The people sent off from the county yesterday were taken to be shot—to “eat peanuts,” as the saying went. Word had it that some of the thieves from the supply cooperative were among them.
“I… you can’t bully me…”
Tian Tian didn’t waste time bickering with Tian Xin. She turned and headed straight for her grandparents’ house.
Back when her father and eldest uncle split the family, neither grandparent went with either son. They stayed in the old house and let the two sons move out on their own. But both brothers worried about the elderly couple, so they built their new houses on empty lots not far from the old place.
Seeing where Tian Tian was headed, Tian Xin got so scared she shut her mouth, dashed home, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Tian Tian rolled her eyes again. She decided that after seeing Chen Jiahao off, she would go straight to her grandmother to tattle.
Watching all this unfold, Chen Jiahao once again confirmed that he had been truly stupid to listen to Tian Xin and come bother Tian Tian.
“Sorry for the intrusion today. I have things to do at home, so I’ll get going.”
“Alright, I won’t keep you. As for these gifts…”
“Keep them. Just a small New Year’s gift for a classmate. Nothing too valuable.”
Seeing this, Tian Tian didn’t bother with the back-and-forth. She went inside and brought out a bag of homemade New Year’s snacks.
“Returning the gesture…”
Chen Jiahao said, “Fine, I won’t stand on ceremony either. Classmate Tian Tian, I’m glad we were classmates.”
Tian Tian replied, “Alright. Goodbye!”
Watching Chen Jiahao walk away, Tian Tian figured he’d probably made up his mind. He might soon follow that wealthy woman to Hong Kong, and they would never see each other again.
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